win or lose (you make me want to try my best)
by WinglessCrows
Summary: Their second year at UA was draining from the very beginning, and the sports festival was a welcome distraction. It seemed that the only good difference between last year and now, was the slowly building friendship Izuku had always wanted from his childhood friend.
1. Prelude

**so i've been going through some very annoying writer's block, so i decided to ignore all my usual fandoms and just begin a new project, and i somehow wrote five chapters of this story in one day, so yay inspiration. regardless, i'll hope to upload once a week, but no promises.**

**Spoiler Warning: heavy manga spoilers up to and including the joint training arc, so read at your own risk!**

* * *

The beginning of their second year at UA had been remarkably silent. Though there were still many threats in the world, even the league had been awfully quiet. Many reports had found that Shigaraki and his followers had been challenging another group of villainous individuals of which the police force and a few select heroes were keeping a close eye.

However, despite the temporary peace, tensions were still high and Izuku, as well as many others, was starting to feel worn down. Between school and internships, there was never a moment to unwind, and while Izuku would always find great pleasure in getting good grades and saving people even from the smallest of threats, he did feel that he was in desperate need of a break.

Today, especially, the class was tired. With a gruesome math test awaiting them after lunch, all twenty of them had stayed up most of the night to study or tutor - depending on how good one's math was. Due to the dormitory system, the whole of Class 2-A had gotten very close, even the most asocial ones of their classmates would attend group activities - even if that activity was studying. Shinsou, who had been installed into their class at the beginning of the school year, had quickly become part of their class, despite his declaration that he wasn't there to make friends. The usual silent Koda was getting more talkative by the day, and Kacchan, for all his harsh words and short temper, was having civil conversations with people outside of his immediate friend group.

"Look alive," Aizawa said, as he entered the classroom and was met with various groans from his students. Even Iida could only manage to straighten up a little, but he still looked as tired as the rest of them. "Today we have one important thing to discuss: The Sports Festival."

The class perked up, their attention now fully on their teacher. Izuku had kind of forgotten about the festival, and was getting slowly excited about it. He had a few regrets from last year, and wanted to redeem himself. In front of him, Kacchan was clearly getting excited as well, as he, out of everyone, was the least satisfied with last year's results.

"As you all have the experience of last year, we'll skip the details and move right on to the important stuff." Aizawa began shuffling with some papers, and Ashido rose from her seat.

"Sensei!" She called as she raised her hand, "Is it really okay for us to have the festival?"

Aizawa looked at her with a raised eyebrow, and sighed before answering: "It is true that some would rather see UA spend their time and effort in resolving conflicts, but the festival is vital _exactly _because of our brittle peace. People need distractions, and by the looks of it, so do all of you."

The class looked only somewhat satisfied by the answer, so Aizawa continued:

"Unlike The School Festival, there is no argument to be made that it benefits those outside of the hero course… except perhaps for a few individuals," Hatsume Mei's name hung in the air, "Nevertheless, it is an important event for upcoming heroes. This isn't just an event for you to win, but one to promote yourselves.

"Last year was an opportunity for you to get scouted for work studies. Of course, many of you are already involved with internships, so as far as scouting goes, it will be mainly Shinsho who will benefit. However, Asui and Midoriya, I believe you too could benefit from making a few connections."

After Nighteye, an opportunity had come for Izuku to intern for Kamui Woods, and for months, he and Tsu, who had also gotten the offer, had been at his hero agency. But after the summer vacation, Kamui Woods' agency would move to Fukuoka, so Izuku and Tsu would be out of an internship as they couldn't exactly follow along.

"This year's goal is to expose yourselves as heroes. If you make it to the final stage of the event, you will be introduced with your hero name, and you actions will reflect how you will be viewed in the future. Of course, some of you have already made a name for yourself, but I would advise you to not take anything for granted. Use this event to the best of your abilities."

Aizawa shuffled through some notes, the class letting the information sink in. It seemed that this year, it would be even more important to make it to the final stage.

"Furthermore," Aizawa continued, "There will be a speech by Bakugo."

"Why?" Kacchan questioned, clearly not wanting to hold another speech - if what he said last year could even be considered as such.

"It is tradition for the previous winner to open the festival. It doesn't have to be long, just a couple of opening words, but I'd highly suggest that you do not repeat what you said last year."

"Tch," Kacchan scoffed, "You should get Todoroki to do it."

"I don't care how you feel about your victory. You are to open the event, bearing in mind that your every word will reflect your hero name."

Kacchan sank a little closer into his seat, "Fine."

Class resumed as Aizawa continued to orient them about the festival, informing Shinsou on work studies, encouraging the girls to not show up in cheerleader uniforms this year, and so on.

Izuku listened somewhat to what Aizawa was saying, picking out whatever information was important to him. But Izuku was still more focused on the math test. Between other, more interesting subjects, and working for Kamui Woods, Izuku felt nervous for this test. Math was among his worst subjects, and while he wasn't exactly on the verge of failing, his grades could certainly look better. Therefore, Izuku was sitting with his math notes, skimming over them whenever it seemed that Aizawa was explaining something less relevant to him.

Directly in front of him, Kacchan also seemed to be studying, though not for their math test - no, Kacchan had amazing grades in math, as he was bested only be Iida in that particular subject - he was studying Chinese. For students of the hero course, electoral subjects were offered to students with high grades in both academics and physical studies. For class 2-A, those offers had been given to Yaoyorozu, Iida, Todoroki, Tsu, Kacchan and himself. Izuku had not had to think twice about taking the class: _The History of Heroes, _which he attended with Todoroki and Yaoyorozu, but Kacchan had chosen Chinese.

As it had been the first country with a recorded quirk, China was one of the hero capitals of the world, and many heroes from Japan would often choose to spend a year or two there. Which was likely why Kacchan was taking the class. A few people from their class had already talked about where they would go after UA, and Izuku too was getting tempted by the idea of leaving Japan for a couple of years. His initial idea had been to follow in All Might's footsteps and go to America, but following Kacchan was a luring idea in and of itself.

Izuku would figure it out when the time came, and he went back to reading through his math notes.

* * *

At lunch, the whole of Class 2-A seemed to swarming Yaoyorozu, Iida and Kacchan for some last instructions before the test. Izuku smiled at the annoyed look on Kacchan's face as he helped out Kirishima and Kaminari - the latter of which was in tears, already feeling doomed to fail. Half a year ago, Kacchan would not have been as willing to help, and though he still looked like someone who had been forced to, he did make Kaminari feel like all was not lost.

Izuku looked away from the scene as he felt someone poke his arm. He turned to find a notebook held up by Uraraka, her face only inches from his and with a pleading look in her eyes.

"Help me," she almost begged, and Izuku ignored his lunch to help his friend.

* * *

Only a few tears were shed during the test.

* * *

The day before The Sports Festival, Izuku was brimming with excitement, his whole body buzzing with an almost nervous energy. Izuku wasn't the only one. Many of his classmates were moving about in the common area, unable to focus on one thing for long.

Izuku was contemplating sleep, as he wanted to be well-rested for the festival, but it was barely eight, so trying to sleep would likely result in a sleepless night. Perhaps he should go for a jog, just to get the energy out.

A buzz from his pocket grabbed Izuku's attention, and he opened his phone to find a message from Kacchan - one of few from his childhood friend, though they were becoming more frequent.

'_I reserved gym A' _was all the message said, but coming from Kacchan, it was a pretty obvious invitation to spar.

Looking around, Izuku found that Kacchan indeed weren't to be found in the common area, and while it wasn't weird for Kacchan to be asleep - being an incredibly early riser and all - Izuku was certain that Kacchan was also far too excited to even think about rest.

With a smile on his face, Izuku practically sprinted to his room to change into something he could spar in. It wasn't many minutes before he was back in the common area, making a few people look his way.

"Deku-kun?" Uraraka questioned as Izuku made ready to leave, tying his shoes by the door, "Where are you going?"

"Practice," he said simply. Sparring sessions with Kacchan were only really a secret when All Might and the subject of One for All was involved, but Izuku liked that they had their own little thing. It was perhaps a little childish, but even when they were young, the two of them never had a thing that was just theirs, and perhaps these secret sparring session could become that. It was a bit of a silly thought, but Izuku treasured it nonetheless.

Izuku was quickly out of the door, and ran as fast as he could to the gym Kacchan had booked for them.

"That was quick," Kacchan commented as Izuku entered through the door, finding his friend in front of what had probably been a high wall of cement, but was now mostly rubble.

"I didn't want you to wait," Izuku smiled, while Kacchan frowned lightly. That probably meant that he was in a good mood.

Kacchan gestured for Izuku to come closer, and they begun. At first, they moved slowly, Kacchan allowing for Izuku to warm up his joints and muscles. They exchanged no words, just slowly increasing the intensity of the fight at a natural pace. When they began to get really into it, Izuku applied five percent of his power, while Kacchan's movements get sharper, his gaze more focused as he studied his opponent. Sparring with Kacchan was never dull, because Izuku could never quite predict him, and at the same time, Izuku made sure that Kacchan could never quite read him either.

As Deku slowly increased the amount of One for All he had coursing through his body, he began to notice that Kacchan wasn't using his quirk to fight him, and he retreated a few paces.

"That's rude," Izuku snapped, though he wasn't really mad at Kacchan. In the back of his mind, Izuku was thinking of the various strategic advantages there was to Kacchan not using his quirk yet. Kacchan on the on the hand seemed slightly confused by the comment.

"What is, you nerd?" He said with no real bite behind his words.

"You're not using your quirk!"

"Neither are you."

This time, it was Izuku's turn to be confused: "Huh?" He exclaimed intelligibly, and Kacchan sighed.

"Your black whips. You've gained enough control with them to fight me, so I thought you would show them off at the festival."

The black whips; Izuku's second quirk. It had gone from being completely uncontrollable to Izuku kind of being able to use them, though only in controlled environments with Kacchan as his opponent. He had attempted to use them a couple of times to catch falling rocks and such, but had been able to do nothing except summon them, which had hardly been helpful. And even in fights where he had used them with some measure of control, Kacchan had always come out on top. Kacchan had told him that when he used them, his movements became slow and predictable, so Izuku hadn't even thought of using it outside of their secret sparring sessions.

"I don't think I can use it..." Izuku said honestly, but Kacchan didn't give him time to feel sorry for himself.

"Shut it, Deku, of course you can," Though Kacchan said it as an insult, Deku felt weirdly motivated by his words, "Just because you can't use them against me, doesn't mean that it won't work on others. Now, come at me with everything you got."

And who was Izuku to turn down a challenge? He lunged forward at twenty percent, and called out his black whips. '_Capture Kacchan_' he commanded, and they shot out of him towards Kacchan… who simply stepped aside and watched Izuku fly past him.

"Come on!" Kacchan yelled, "You're better than this!"

Izuku let out a frustrated yell, letting Kacchan rile him up. He lunged for him again, attempting to corner him with the whips, while then aiming to kick him, when he had nowhere to go. But knowing of Izuku's lack of control, Kacchan still dodged him easily, finding his way behind Izuku and pushes him lightly to make him lose his balance.

"Kacchan!" Izuku yelled again. He wanted to make Kacchan use his damn quirk! The gap between them shouldn't be so big as to have Izuku use two of his quirks, while Kacchan fought him using none at all.

Izuku put thirty percent of his power into his legs, ripping the ground beneath him, as he closed the gap between the two of them. A smirk appeared on Kacchan's face as he moved swiftly to dodge the assault, but this time, Izuku was ahead. He sent his black whips to capture him, while he was still in the air, forcing Kacchan to use his quirk to escape.

"About time, nerd!" Kacchan yelled from the air, and Izuku smiled as well. The fight had just begun.

With Kacchan's attention finally on him, Izuku couldn't let up the attacks. He used flicks to create wind pressure, when Kacchan was in the air, forcing him to move in a predictable direction, while he used his shoot style when Kacchan get close enough to him. Kacchan, of course, was not just on the defensive, and sent a succession of explosions his way, forcing Izuku back whenever he got too close, while giving Kacchan a momentary control of the fight.

Izuku saw his opening as the back wall of the gym caught his eye, and he began to formulate a strategy. With the help of his whips and relentless attacking, he forced Kacchan against the wall, giving him no escape. As Izuku sent a kick his way, Kacchan tried to dodge, but after having repeated the motion so many times by now, Kacchan wouldn't have anticipated that Izuku was merely using the kick as a distraction, to grab him with his whip. As soon as he had Kacchan in his grasp, he threw him onto the ground, propelling himself downwards as well, to grab hold of Kacchan's wrists, pinning them above his head, while Izuku forced his weight on top of Kacchan's, in the way that he had learned to best keep him from using his quirk to free himself. As Kacchan relaxed beneath him, he knew that he had won.

Izuku rose to his feet and extended a hand to Kacchan to help him up, and a warm sensation went through him as Kacchan accepted his help without hesitation.

"Don't hold back during the festival," Kacchan said as they attempted to tidy the practice room just a little bit, though Cementoss would be forced to repair most of it regardless, "The only one I'll allow you to lose against is me, got it?"

"I think I'll settle for not losing at all," Izuku said rather confidently, but he got no response from Kacchan. Last year, their only chance at fighting against each other during the last event had been the finals, but Izuku had lost in his second match. He was determined to not let that happen again. Whether it was the finals, or the opening preliminaries, or however else they might be put against each other, Izuku wanted to fight Kacchan, and he wanted to win.

And Izuku thought, if he did win by using his black whips like he had done tonight, it would be entirely thanks to Kacchan. When Izuku had first awakened his quirk and the two of them, with All Might's assistance, had begun to train it, Kacchan and All Might had been at odds - all while Izuku was still trying to wrap his head around everything that had happened that day.

From All Might's perspective, the best thing to do was for Izuku to learn to control it to the point where it would no longer come out unexpectedly. Izuku still had a long way to go with the raw power of One for All, and it would do him no good to practice two things at once. Kacchan had disagreed rather strongly.

Kacchan believed that One for All grew with Izuku, and Izuku would therefore grow into the power the more he used it, while the black whips could be trained to a purpose. He had argued that there was absolutely no point in Izuku having a power that he wasn't using, especially one that seemed so fundamentally different from the pure power of One for All.

In the beginning, Izuku had followed All Might's teachings, seeing as he was his mentor and the previous holder of the power. But then Kacchan had begun to invite him out to practice without All Might around, and his control of the whips had improved the more he had used them. As far as Izuku was aware, All Might still knew nothing of the secret practices they had together, and Izuku almost preferred it that way.

All Might was his idol, his hero, but he was also one who had held the power before him. Kacchan was different. Kacchan had an outside perspective, and seemed to understand Izuku's power differently from the two of them. Of course, Izuku also knew that Kacchan was motivated by the idea of fighting Izuku when he was at his strongest (and then winning said fight), but if that was his goal, then that also meant that Kacchan truly believed that Izuku would become the strongest if could fully utilize this new power. And unlike All Might, Izuku had never known Kacchan to be wrong about anything.

Kacchan sent Izuku back by himself, while he went to drop off the key to the gym. As Izuku returned to the dorms, most of his classmates seemed to have gone to bed, but there were still a few people hanging out, talking lightly among themselves.

"Midoriya?" Kirishima seemed to question as Izuku moved across the room, wanting to take a shower before he headed to bed, "Were you in a fight?" He sounded slightly concerned, and Deku looked down on himself, finding that his previously white t-shirt was now anything but white. There was a hole at the side, where Kacchan had aimed an explosion just strong enough to singe the shirt, but not enough to leave a mark on Izuku's skin. There were some light scratches all across his body, though, again, in the morning it would hardly be visible. He didn't actually look that bad, just, you know, a little dirty and worn out.

"Um… I guess," Izuku said, and just as he did, Kacchan entered the room as well, looking not quite as beat up as Izuku, even though he had lost their fight.

"Did you get into another fight?" Iida, who had not been in the room before, questioned loudly and with a tone of disapproval.

"No!" Izuku said quickly, while Kacchan promptly ignored the whole situation and just slid out of the room in the direction of the showers, "We were just sparring."

"Looks like Bakugo won," Kaminari mumbled, and Izuku looked in the direction Kacchan had gone.

"Don't be so sure," he said, a small smile on his face, and he bid his classmates good night, as he left in the same direction as his friend.

* * *

"Have you thought about what to say tomorrow?" Izuku questioned as they exited the bath, Kacchan lingering at the second floor, where Izuku's room was.

"I have an idea," he said, seeming in thought. He was clearly tired, and though Izuku should probably let him go, he really treasured every moment he got with him. Still, they had an important day tomorrow.

"Good luck," Izuku said and made for his room, yet, he still caught Kacchan's soft reply.

"You too, Deku."

* * *

Izuku slept well that night, and soon he found himself with the rest of class 2-A in his gym wear, waiting to be called onto the stage. Present Mic welcomed the audience and the atmosphere was electric as he finally began the introduction.

"First up, from the hero course, classes 2-A and 2-B!"

Though the light was blinding and the cheers deafening, Izuku felt as excited as ever, impatient as the rest of the classes from their year were introduced.

"And now," Present Mic said as he rounded off the general introductions, "A word from last year's winner from class 2-A! Bakugo Katsuki!"

Kacchan hopped onto the stage, looking not quite as arrogant as last year, though the word _humble _could hardly describe him either.

"For this year's festival," he said, already off to a better start than last year, "I want to encourage everyone to try their best, so that both winners and losers will feel satisfied. Thank you." The note of gratitude by the end seemed slightly forced, and something in the way Kacchan had said everything had made it feel quite rehearsed. However, Izuku was certain that he would be the only one to pick up on that.

"Well..." Uraraka said somewhere behind him, "That was unexpectedly good."

To their left, Kirishima snicked, "Good? Maybe, but it seems to be that Bakugo is just pissed off about last year. That message practically had Todoroki's name on it."

Izuku smiled, having to agree with that. In the end, he was just happy that Kacchan didn't manage to piss anyone off this time around. It was progress.

"And now, second years!" Mic yelled as Kacchan had left the stage, "It is time to move, as I am afraid that this arena is far too small for the first event!"

Izuku tilted his head in confusion.


	2. Heroes vs Villains

It took them ten minutes to move to the location of the first event - a site that looked strikingly familiar to that of the entrance exam, except it was bigger, much bigger. When had this even been built?

"The first event is simple!" Mic's voice boomed through a set of speakers, as he himself was still at the arena, no doubt going to narrate the whole event for the people at the stadium, "It is heroes vs villains!" There was a collective 'oh' from the students, "And listen carefully to the rules, because you will only get them once! Take it away, Midnight!"

All attention moved to the R-rated hero, who was stood atop a small platform, so that she was visible to everyone. "Listen up students! By class, you will be divided into heroes and villains, ten of each per class. In front of me are tables labelled with your class names. Please align in front of the box, and begin drawing to determine your team."

Everyone shuffled around to begin drawing while Midnight continued: "In the box are blue and red wristbands. Draw blue and you're a hero, while red will make you a villain. Once you've drawn, put on the band, so that it is visible."

Izuku looked ahead of the line to see what everyone drew, while he awaited his turn. People were quick to stand with their teammates, effectively creating two groups that were now stood right and left of the small line in front of the box. Kacchan had been the first to draw and had gotten a blue band. He he had then been followed by Todoroki, who also drew blue, and he was in turn followed by another two, making it four heroes and zero villains. Kaminari became the first to draw red, and looked slightly disappointed as he glanced to the small group, where both Kacchan and Kirishima were. After that, many joined Kaminari - most hilariously was Iida who always donned the funniest personality when he played the part of a villian.

When it came to Izuku, odds were in favor of the villain team - which now also sported his partner from Kamui Woods' internship, Tsuyu - so he wasn't really surprised when he drew red. He and Kacchan were never on the same team anyway, so he should have known from the beginning where he would end up. When everyone had drawn, Midnight continued her explanation of the event.

"The heroes and the villains will have different objectives. There are two ways for heroes to obtain points: either by securing valuables or by capturing a villain. Both of these are achieved by touching your wristband to the object or the villian's band. The valuables will have a random value of up to five points, while villains are initially worth ten points. However, since the grounds are a residential area, any destruction caused by a hero will earn a ten point deduction. On the other hand, should a villian cause destruction, they will earn three points per construction that falls, and their value to heroes will drop by one point every time something is destroyed. Villains can also obtain points by stealing valuables, though the principle is the same for both teams. Lastly," There was a groan from a few students as the rules were already complicated enough, "If a villain is captured by a hero, they will lose their progress, but may continue participating in an attempt to accumulate more points, but their value will reset to five points instead of ten. The same villain can only be caught once by each hero, so you can't just focus on a single target."

There was a lukewarm response from all the students, many trying to wrap their minds around the overly complex point system, while others formed strategies - Izuku being one of those.

Though there was strategic value in working as a team to fend of heroes, points would only be given to one individual, so Izuku decided that it would be better for him to work alone. If he encountered a hero, he could easily run away, since the rules made it so that there was no value for the villains in starting nor winning a fight. Izuku also needed to choose what points to go for. While his quirk would easily allow him to destroy everything within sight, it would make him a very visible target for the heroes, and any confrontation would merely end up wasting his time. However, the valuables were assigned a random value, and from what Izuku could see, there was no way of telling how many points you had. On the other hand, Izuku thought, if he destroyed a lot of things quickly, his value would lessen to the heroes, and perhaps he wouldn't be a target after all. There was a lot to consider, and Izuku didn't settle on a strategy before it became time to begin the event.

The heroes and villains started on opposite sides, and the time limit was twenty minutes.

A whistle signalled start, and before Izuku even got to move, a laser shot through two buildings on his right, Aoyama having made the first move.

Izuku smiled, activating One for All, and smashed right through the nearest building, earning him an easy three points. They had very little information available on the valuables, when it came to both number and location, but in the rubble of Izuku's destruction, he quickly spotted one, and bend down to touch his wristband to it. The valuable - which was really just a black circle not unlike those they had worn during the first stage of the provisional license exam - lit up in a red color as Izuku claimed it. That probably meant that if a hero were to secure it, it would turn blue, so should Izuku ever encounter a blue valuable, he would know to be alert.

There was no voice nor a display to indicate how many points the valuable had been worth, so Izuku decided to count all of them as worth one point. That way he could keep track of them minimum amount of points he had. However, even that might be futile, as he couldn't know how many points anyone else had and therefore he wouldn't know what to aim for. The event had many rules, yet seemingly no information was available.

Izuku moved onto to another building, and allowed himself to search for a minute's time, finding two valuables, one which already shone red and one he could claim. After the minute, Izuku turned the building to bits, and moved along. Since all the villains had begun from the same starting point, everything close to the entrance was pretty much gone by now. If Izuku wanted to continue with his search-smash-run strategy, he probably needed to get closer to the villains side of the playing field.

Not wanting to run into any heroes if he could avoid it, Izuku dashed left, moving along the edge of the make-shift town, destroying a couple of constructions along the way for some easy points, but as the sound of buildings falling started to die out, he got more careful. He hopped from house to apartment complex, trying to secure a couple of valuables, finding all of them untouched. Many of the heroes would likely try to go for the villain points. If they moved in groups, they could easily corner a villain, and steal about five points each before moving onto the next. And if most of them moved to where the villains were, Izuku could probably gain quite a few points in enemy territory, feeling confident enough to outrun any hero who may have stayed back.

After a couple of minutes of moving further away from his starting point, and searching for valuables, Izuku could no longer feel the vibrations in the ground from all the destruction. Izuku was almost at the halfway point, marking the exact middle between the villain and the hero side, when he found a valuable with a blue light. All of Izuku's senses seemed to heighten in that moment, quickly looking around to see if there was anyone nearby. Seeing no one, Izuku slowly moved back until he felt the wall behind him, making sure that there were no blind spots upon which someone could sneak up on him. Izuku was standing on the second floor of a three story building, and would be able to see if anyone entered through any of the three openings on that floor. If anyone tried to bust through a wall, floor or ceiling, Izuku would have just enough time to react as well.

Izuku perked his ears, listening for anyone who might be around. He might just have been paranoid, but he had stacked up quite a few points, and he wasn't exactly keen on starting all over again. Izuku waited ten seconds. Waiting to see if anyone would reveal themselves, but he never saw or heard anyone. And yet, the feeling that he wasn't alone lingered.

Izuku took just a second too long to realize what was happening, and in that fraction of a moment, Hagakure managed to get a hold of him. Izuku tried to shake her off, but a sudden burst of light blinded him, and he halted his attack to shield his eyes, entirely on instinct. As his brain finally caught up with the events, Izuku, still blinded, directed a smash with his free hand downward, hoping not only to destroy the building, but also take away Hagakure's footing, making her let go of him.

When Izuku's eyesight returned to him, he was still falling and Hagakure's presence was no longer there, but with her complete invisibility, Izuku had no idea where she might be. He had no doubt that she was fine, but as long as he couldn't see her, she was a threat. In Izuku's search of his invisible classmate, he hadn't even realized that he had never touched the ground.

"Nice try, Deku-kun," Uraraka's sweet voice called out and Izuku turned his head to find her standing not too far from him. By her side, Hagakure was also standing, now wearing their standard gym clothes so that Izuku could locate her.

"I can still attack you even if I'm floating," Izuku said, being fairly experienced with being under the influence of Uraraka's quirk.

"True," Uraraka replied, still with a sweet voice, "But we already got your points, so we don't really gain anything from fighting you."

Izuku's face fell and he looked at his wristband. It had a flashing blue light on it.

"Good luck, Deku-kun," Uraraka waved as the two heroes left, "I'd like to see you advance, so I'll let you down in five minutes."

Izuku sighed, as the two heroes disappeared between the still standing buildings. He needed a better plan.

* * *

**Class 2-A**

**Heroes: Bakugou, Todoroki, Shinsou, Koda, Uraraka, Tokoyami, Kirishima, Ojiro, Hagakure, Sato**  
**Villains: Midoriya, Asui, Aoyama, Shoji, Jirou, Yaoyorozu, Iida, Sero, Ashido, Kaminari**

**Class 2-B**  
**Heroes: Kendo, Awase, Shiozaki, Kaibara, Kamakiri, Kuroiro, Kodai, Tsuburaba, Tokage, Shishida**  
**Villains: Monoma, Manga, Tetsutetsu, Honenuki, Tsunori, Komori, Shoda, Bondo, Yanagi, Rin**

**I can't promise that you will see everyone, but I wanted to give the information :)**


	3. Tempered Explosions

Katsuki had found the draw peculiar. It was almost suspicious that people like Sero, Asui and Yaoyorozu, who all had excellent powers for capture would end up on the villain side, while the more destruction-prone students of class 2-A like Kirishima, Sato and even himself found themselves on the hero side, where destruction was penalized.

Nevertheless, Katsuki always liked a good challenge and a proper hero wouldn't go around destroying property unless it was utterly necessary anyway. Katsuki was still determined to come out on top, and had quickly figured that the quickest way to gain points would be to capture villains, rather than waste time looking for valuables. As soon as the whistle had blown, Katsuki had charged straight for the villain-side of the field, hoping to catch at least a few before they had time to wreck too much havoc and destruction.

Katsuki was quick to tag some from the support and general studies class, who had likely hurried closer to the hero side to not get caught up in something they weren't really equipped to handle. Though they had little interest in the event, they still did their best to hinder him at least a little. None of them were a real challenge to Katsuki, but as they were inexperienced in fighting, he made sure to not hurt them, only utilizing fighting techniques to hold them in place long enough for him to touch their wrist bands. Without using his quirk, Katsuki also ensured that he wouldn't accidentally cause some structural damage in the area that he was fighting.

As Katsuki took the points from the seventh villain, a building fell to his left and a smile found its way to Katsuki's face. A challenge had approached. Katsuki knew that the villain coming through was unaware of his presence, and, were he smart, he would hide himself and take the villain by surprise the moment that he had identified him. But, as it were, Katsuki was itching for a fight, and as soon as the rubble fell and a silhouette was noticeable through the dust cloud, he lunged forward.

The villain did not seem fazed by the sudden attack, and pushed him back. Katsuki was quick to offset the push with a small explosion, directing himself towards the villain again. This time he wasn't pushed back, but a steeled fist was heading right for his face. Katsuki averted by directing an explosion towards the ground, and maneuvered himself behind his target. He fired off an explosion just big enough to make his target lose his balance, and lunged for him again. Katsuki aimed to pin him down, but this villain was far stronger than any of his previous opponents and he twisted his body to send a kick Katsuki's way. Katsuki retreated a few paces to avoid getting hit, and the dust began to settle at their feet to reveal the copy-Kirishima: Tetsutetsu.

Katsuki couldn't allow for him to even think about fleeing, so he was quick to send an explosion at him, knowing that he would use his quirk to protect himself. Before the smoke could clear, Katsuki was close again, reaching for Tetsutetsu's shoulder to pin him down. Tetsutetsu directed another kick towards him, but this time, Katsuki didn't dodge it, taking the attack head on, prioritizing the capture. Katsuki was fairly used to sparring against Kirishima, so even though the kick hurt like hell, it wasn't worse than expected, and he was able to take it. Katsuki used the momentary surprise coming from Tetsutetsu to take him down, making quick work of the wristband, hoping that Tetsutetsu had not yet destroyed ten buildings, in which case, this fight had been worthless.

"It didn't even make you flinch!" Tetsutetsu said in disbelief beneath him, but Katsuki scoffed.

"Of course it did," he replied through gritted teeth, partly because he was annoyed by the comment, and partly because of the pain in his side, "Swing a little faster and I would have lost my grip on you."

Katsuki hadn't meant to give out advice, but it just sort of slipped out. It had begun with Deku, since Katsuki had been annoyed whenever Deku was clearly doing something wrong (which seemed to be all the damn time). Deku would always thank him for the advice, while Katsuki always reminded him that it was unbecoming of someone with All Might's power to be weak. Not that Deku was. Not anymore. They had begun to spar more often (and in controlled environments now), and though Katsuki still took home most of the victories, Deku wasn't far behind. Their last fight had ended in Deku's victory, and Katsuki was much hoping that they both made it to the final round, so that they could meet in an official match - it could serve as their official tie breaker, as they each held a victory in their more… elaborate fights.

However much fun it would be to meet Deku in this stage, Katsuki didn't want to waste time looking for him. Besides, Deku had the perfect quirk for destroying everything around him, and everyone in their grade knew that unless you could somehow sneak up on him, he would be very difficult to tackle in a fight. And with his low point value, he was likely not worth the trouble. He expected Deku to do quite well under the circumstances they were given as long as he didn't overthink or get reckless.

Katsuki continued onwards after he had let Tetsutetsu go, and though he had little interest in valuables and their random points, Katsuki still got a few as he was walking around, letting the pain from Tetsutetsu's kick subside a little, before he charged back into the battlefield. And that was when he came upon a peculiar sight.

In the midst of some undestroyed buildings was a single pile of stones and rubble, and above it, a floating figure. Their body was upside down, and on their head was a big, recognizable mop of green hair. Katsuki slowly approached the floating Deku, who seemed deep in thought and also completely unaware that he wasn't alone.

It was, of course, plainly clear what had occurred. Deku had been bested by Uraraka, who had yet to release her quirk, and since he was on zero points, he didn't care if he was found. Still, Deku was worth five points to Katsuki.

Deku was floating too high for Katsuki to just reach him, so he had to fire off an explosion to get to him. Knowing Deku, once he was aware that Katsuki was there, he wouldn't just allow Katsuki to take the five points without putting up some sort of fight.

Katsuki got close as he possibly could, Deku still stupidly unaware, and propelled himself towards Deku at max speed. The sound of Katsuki's explosion stirred Deku, and he tried to set off a powerful flick to avoid Katsuki. But, knowing Deku, Katsuki had already anticipated that reaction and easily took hold of Deku mid-air.

"Kacchan!" Deku exclaimed, as Katsuki claimed his five points and gently landed on the ground, letting go of Deku so that they were at eyeheight - even if Deku's body was now floating both horizontally and upside down.

"Just because you don't have any points," Katsuki began his lecture angrily, "Doesn't mean you can afford to just float around. Anyone can just take five points off you." Katsuki really couldn't believe how dumb Deku was sometimes. This wasn't just a fight to give yourself points, but also to avoid that others gain any.

"Well, if you hadn't moved me," Deku pouted, "I would have been too high up for people to get to me."

Katsuki looked him dead in the eye: "That's bullshit, Deku."

Deku was about to reply, probably with another dumb statement, when suddenly Uraraka released her power and Deku fell to the ground with no elegance whatsoever.

Deku barely managed to get on his feet before the ground was suddenly covered in ice, immobilizing the both of them. As he zoomed past, Todoroki was quick to grab the five points off Deku, before the nerd even thought of freeing himself.

"Oi!" Katsuki called out as he blew off the ice at his feet, "Look where you're going, you bastard!" Though Katsuki was angry at himself for not even noticing Todoroki approaching, he was also mad at Todoroki for freezing him too, when they were supposed to be on the same damn side.

"You'll be fine," Todoroki called as he left just as quickly as he arrived, using his ice to move around at an incredible speed.

"That damn Todoroki," Katsuki muttered, his feet already cold from the ice. Roughly half the time had passed and, at this rate, Todoroki would wind up with more points than him, so Katsuki needed to get a move on.

"You better make it to the next round, Deku!" He yelled as he set off, "Can't have you lose to anyone but me!"

Katsuki was barely out of eyeshot when he heard a deafening sound, and looked back to find most of the buildings having fallen to a single one of Deku's smashes. Katsuki smirked as he diverted from Todoroki's ice path to get his hands on some villains.


	4. Stealthy Strategies

With her camouflage, quick reflexes and observant nature, Tsuyu moved around easily and undetected. Even if all the valuables she had found were only worth one point, she would still have well over twenty, which, by the nature of the game, was sure to take her to the next stage. Tsuyu was quite careful to not get caught in the middle of a fight, and was on the lookout for any heroes who could possibly spot her, like Class B's Shishida. She knew that as long as she remained hidden, she would be all right. There was no reason for her to tire herself out just yet, wanting to reserve her strength for the upcoming events which would undoubtedly pin even the strongest students against each other.

As Tsuyu secured another valuable, she caught the villainous laughter of their class rep himself. Iida was standing atop a half destroyed building, roughly five stories high, laughing like a maniac (it was always entertaining to give Iida the role of a villain). Iida was, from his position on the roof, looking down at a very irritated Bakugou, who looked ready to blast Iida to space.

"What will you do now, hero?" Iida mocked, "Any wrong moves will make this building collapse, killing everyone inside."

Tsuyu could practically hear Bakugou yelling _it's empty! _back at Iida, even if the blond explosion boy was merely seething rage. It was an interesting match-up though. In a straight up fight, Bakugou would likely find himself victorious, but since Iida would gain nothing from engaging in combat, he could just as easily run away, leaving Bakugou virtually no choice but to give up the chase. The smart move would be for Bakugou to just stop his pursuit, but despite his intelligence, Bakugou would often let pride get the better of him. If he had decided that Iida was a target, he would pursue him until he had taken his points or the time ran out.

With less than five minutes remaining, Iida could probably evade Bakugou easily enough, especially since Bakugou couldn't just blast his way through everything to get his target. Bakugou looked at Iida, as if angrily weighing his options, and then, a calm wave washed over his expression, as if he had deduced that pursuing Iida was a waste of time. Iida, too, looked like he thought Bakugou had given up the chase, but both Tsuyu and Iida should have known better. Bakugou never gives up.

In the very second Iida let down his guard, Bakugou sent off as big of an explosion as he possibly could without his support items, sending both Iida and the building crashing down. Bakugou was quickly in the air, apparently not caring about the ten points he had just lost, wasting no time in closing the gap between them. Iida was quick to assess the situation, and waited for Bakugou to be right within his reach. Iida then activated his booster to make a 180 degree turn in the air, his leg looming above Bakugou, before he activated his quirk again, just as the hero was within striking distance. The kick was too quick for Bakugou to escape, and it sent him plummeting downwards, Bakugou barely saving himself by cushioning the fall with an explosion.

But Bakugou was hardly likely to give up after having sacrificed ten points. And yet, he didn't pursue. Tsuyu crooked her head in confusion, while Iida, panicked, looked at his wrist.

"Damn you, hero!" He exclaimed, Bakugou left smirking at the feet of his own destruction, "I will have my revenge!" And then Iida left in a hurry to make up for all his lost points.

Tsuyu waited for Bakugou to leave until she moved again. She didn't want him to notice her, as he was undoubtedly much faster than her, and hardly anyone could even stand up to Bakugou in a fight. No, it was safer to let him walk away, never letting him be aware of her presence.

Not many were as stealthy as Tsuyu, and while she couldn't conceal herself completely like Tohru, she was undetectable to all who didn't know what to look for. But some did know, and Tsuyu barely escaped the hands reaching for her, jumping to safety on the high of the wall she had been hiding behind.

Before her stood Kirishima, fists already hardened and ready to fight. Of all people, Tsuyu had not expected Kirishima to find her, but perhaps Bakugou's influence was beginning to show.

"You probably still have all your ten points, right, Froppy?" Kirishima said as he slowly approached.

"I won't let you take them," Tsuyu replied determined, while assessing her opponent. She had to keep him at bay, so he couldn't do what Bakugou had done to Iida. The best plan would be for her to grab him with her tongue, and then just throw him as far as she could. With the remaining time, she could easily outrun him long enough to keep her points. But with his hardening, she couldn't grab onto him without a chance of getting cut. She really didn't want to injure herself this early on, but if he ever get too close, she wouldn't hesitate.

Tsuyu decided to use the environment to her advantage, climbing higher on the wall of the building she had taken refuge in. Kirishima halted in his step as she moved upwards, his gaze following her. She only climbed halfway up the wall, cautious about any enemies who might appear from above, but it would be enough for Kirishima to not reach her by normal means.

For a few moments, they merely looked at each other, waiting for the other to move, until Kirishima seemed to lose his patience with her. Tsuyu figured that she didn't even need to put that much distance between them, as long as she could stall for long enough for the event to end. However, Kirishima seemed to have taken too much from Bakugou, and didn't as much as hesitate the break down the wall she stuck to. While their motives likely varied, neither of them were ever willing to give up, a feature which remained one of the bonds of their friendship. Tsuyu admired both of them for it, though it was currently working against her.

Tsuyu thought quickly as she was falling, closing in on Kirishima who was ready to grab her, body hardened in defense. She jumped between the falling rubble, throwing drops of mucus towards Kirishima, aiming for his eyes to blind him momentarily. It only served to distract him for a moment, but the instant that she was close enough for him to grab her, he reached out for her. Tsuyu quickly dodged, moving below his outstretched hand, and hooked her tongue around his ankles, where his shoe would still protect her from his hardening, and threw him as far as she could.

"Nice try, Kirishima-chan," she said as he disappeared.

Tsuyu was about to move on as an announcement stopped her.

"Time's up!"


End file.
